SI Swimsuit Issue Attracts High Ad Revenue, Readership
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Ford (l) Says Swimsuit Issue Is
SI's Most Important Franchise |
SI's 236 page swimsuit issue hit newsstands yesterday with 112 ad pages, and company execs said that revenue for the edition is at "record levels, with digital up more than" 40%, according to Terry Lefton in this week's SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Publishers Information Bureau (PIB) estimates that the swimsuit issue's "$40[M] in revenue from ad pages would make it one of the top 150 magazines in the U.S. as a stand-alone," and industry sources added that in a "good year, swimsuit ad revenue can account for almost 15[%] of SI ad intake." The annual swimsuit issue stays on newsstands for six to eight weeks and has a "rate base of 4.5 million, compared with SI's normal rate base of 3.15 million." SI claims the issue has an "astounding pass-along readership of 70 million." SI Group President Mark Ford said, "Swimsuit was started because there was nothing going on in sports and it seemed like a better idea than the dog shows and winter sports in Russia we were covering. It’s earned a billion in ad revenue over its lifetime, so I think it is fair to say that after SI, it’s our most important franchise" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 2/11 issue).
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Taco Bell Web Site Allows Visitors To
Direct Own Swimsuit Photo Shoot |
ONLINE SWIMMING: MEDIA INDUSTRY NEWSLETTER notes the swimsuit issue's ad pages have been "flat this decade." But Ford said that digital revenues, which have grown 50% since '02, when SI Group Editor Terry McDonell became Managing Editor, and TV and event marketing are "where the action is." Ford: "Give Terry credit for being multiplatform-savvy. Swimsuit accounts for 15% of our total revenues." PIB reports this year's ad revenues are higher than last year's print-only total of $681.8M. The swimsuit issue includes ads from Anheuser-Busch and Taco Bell, which is behind the Web site directdaniella.com, where viewers can "create their own swimsuit shoot." Campaigns from Dodge, Dasani, GMC Trucks and Honda also go "beyond print," and the swimsuit issue gets beauty/fashion/jewelry business "rarely seen at other times of the year in SI." SI last night hosted a Club SI party at Seven World Trade Center in N.Y., and Saturday TNT will air "The Making of the Swimsuit" (MEDIA INDUSTRY NEWSLETTER, 2/11 issue). CNBC's Brian Shactman said the SI swimsuit issue "gets buzz akin to Time's 'Person of the Year' with a little less at stake and a little less showing." Shactman said $40M in ad revenue is "comparable to what the Sporting News makes in a whole year." Shactman: "40 million will 'read it,' about a million people will buy the calendar and SI.com will get about 250 million page views. That's where the revenue is growing the most" (CNBC, 2/12).
PHOTO OP: SI swimsuit issue cover girl Marisa Miller appeared on ABC's "GMA" yesterday morning ("GMA," ABC, 2/12). The issue also contains a four-page spread of IRL driver Danica Patrick, which was shot at Singer Island, Florida, last fall following the IRL Open Test at Barber Motorsports Park. A gallery of 44 pictures from Patrick's shoot is available on SI.com (IRL).
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